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The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The arena is chaos after the duel between Ghorza, Bliss and Gok. With his final breath, Gok tells Ghorza his brothers and sisters will find her and slaughter her for the pig she is. In the Tower, the rest of the party loot the remains of the First Hunters, finding sweet armor pieces embodying the three hunters. There's one more casket in the Tower, empty with a large ball of cotton above it. The party can't figure out what the deal is with it. They find that Sev is alive, but wounded. K'harth hears a voice in his head, ominously talking about strength and running wild. Ghorza and Bliss leave the arena, where they meet the Noble Rot and the rest of the hunters entering the Fort gleefully. Alala gives a speech about freedom from tyranny and quotas, and thanking the Soup Troop. The party stay in the Fort for a week celebrating and recovering. At the tavern, Bliss tries to cast Remove Curse from K'harth. Things go sideways, as usual. He no longer hears the dramatic voice in his head, but he now finds himself able to transforms into a wereboar. He can't hold silver without burning himself, and doesn't know how to turn on or off his new condition. Ghorza attunes to her new Shard, likely the Shard of Divination, but she doesn't share the vision of Sirrias she had with the rest of the group. The party meet with the Hunters, who have formed an interim governing council. Ghorza asks for scouting at Durotar, the Grove of the Eagle, and Vesuvius, and for eventual military aid. Leafwind, the Master of Hawks, gives them a figurine to break in time of need. The Hunters push back on scouting Durotar, they want nothing to do with the place, as their rangers always disappear from that area. Sirrias takes Courtney aside and gives her a magical arm incorporating dragon scales and retractable claws fashioned by Lil Billy. She's touched, and then she and Sirrias touch each other. With sex? During the week, Bliss and Ghorza help K'harth train his new wereboar ability. Divine magic can activate it; the method to turn it off reamins unclear. Kinna revives Pheu, who had been petrified by the Basilisk, and studies the magical archives of the Fort, learning about the legend of the "Primals" that created Juniper. Brodo and Sirrias try to restore the Fort Maw teleportation circle that Sev destroyed, but they need more potent materials than they possess. Sirrias suggests using "batteries", living people, as a teleport power similar to what the First Flame were using during the Battle of the Red Galleon. At this suggestion, his finger ignites in flame, although he feels nothing. He burns K'harth when the two shake hands, but Sirrias becomes defensive and downplays it as nothing important. Finally, the party decide to return the remains of the First Hunters and Sev to the Weaver, fulfulling their earlier promise. They travel to the Inverted Fortress, and Sirrias tries to summon a water elemental. He summons a fire one instead. The Chimera Jim greets the party, but insists they come down to the Weaver herself. He recoils involuntarily at the sight of the First Hunter remains. Down in the Fortress, the Weaver is overjoyed. She says she can use these offerings to return the Thundercliff region to what it was before the arrival of the Hunters, pure wilderness. The Weaver also offers to provide the Soup Troop equivalent assistance to what the Hunters have offered. The party feel icky about it, decline, and the Weaver turns hostile. They now face the full power of the Inverted Spire, up against not only an ancient Storm Giant but also a Chimera and dozens of battle-ready monstrosities. Previous Episode: Duel of Fates Next Episode: I've Got A Bone To Pick